WhiteSpace: Season One (Episodes 1-6 of the sci-fi horror serial) (30 page)

Liz didn’t know how to explain the situation to her daughter. Aubrey was only six months old, and while she seemed to understand far more than Alex had at that age, Liz didn’t have a way to explain a concept like death. She didn’t want to lie and say, “Daddy will be back soon,” or anything which might use a lie as comfort food.

So she simply hugged her, or in most cases, distracted the child with something else.

And every time she successfully made Aubrey momentarily forget her daddy, it broke Liz’s heart just a little bit more.
 

Today was particularly rough for them both.
 

Between waiting on the window guy to replace her windshield, dealing with several more unanswered calls to the medical examiner’s office to find out when in the hell she’d be allowed to get Roger’s body, and wondering what on God’s green Earth could be on the flash drive, she barely had eye contact for Aubrey, let alone undivided attention.

This made Alex’s return to school all the more noticeable, magnifying the emptiness of the house. Now Aubrey was missing both her daddy and her brother, and constantly looking for them, likely wondering why everyone was leaving her. And probably also wondering when mommy would leave?

Liz needed a nap, and decided to sleep in the spare bed in Aubrey’s room.

She headed downstairs to make sure the door was locked, for probably the hundredth time in the past few hours. As she approached the door, she saw movement outside the front window. A chill shot through her body. She went to the window and saw a police officer heading up her sidewalk.

She felt suddenly sick, fearing more bad news.

Relax, he’s just here to follow up on the car thing, or maybe something related to Roger. Maybe he’s gonna tell you when you can get Roger’s body and finally bury him.

She ran to the front door hoping she could get there before the offiver had a chance to ring the bell and surely wake Aubrey.

Liz threw the door open, and saw it wasn’t
just
a cop at her door, but Chief Brady. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her get and deep in her marrow. She stepped onto the porch.

“Hello, ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat.

“Hello, Chief Brady. How can I help you?” Liz positioned herself between the chief and the slightly ajar door at her back. She would invite him in under normal circumstances, but didn’t want his voice to wake Aubrey. Waking to the sound of a stranger in the house would scare her even more than waking not to find Mommy next to her.

“Is Alex here?” he asked.

“No, he’s at school. Why? What’s wrong?” Liz said, her voice rising in pitch.

“There was an incident at the school,” the chief said.

Liz felt her stomach churn.
An incident? Oh God.

“What happened?” she asked, her hands involuntarily clasped over her chest.

“Well, we’re not sure exactly. He seems to have gotten into a fight with two kids. He and his girlfriend, Katie were involved, and they both took off into the woods. One of the boys is in the hospital in serious condition. The other is banged up, but he’ll live.”

“Oh God,” Liz said. “When did this happen?”

“About a half hour ago or so. We’re looking for them, and thought maybe they came here.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from them,” she said, trying not to hyperventilate. “Did you check with Katie’s mom?”

“I’ve got an officer trying to track her down now. She wasn’t home.”

“I think she works at the hospital, in the accounting deparment.”

“Yeah,” Brady said. “He’s on his way as we speak.”

“Is Alex in trouble?” Liz asked.

“Well, I’d like to talk to them both,” Brady said, “to get their side of the story.”

“Alex is a good kid, Chief. He would never start a fight. Those kids must’ve started it. Who was involved?”

“Jake Brewster and Ray Wilson.”

“Oh, God. I had both of them in my class, and I can assure you they were both nothing but trouble,
always
getting into fights.”

Brady looked down, as if he shouldn’t be discussing their histories with her, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I’m rather
familiar
with them. But I still need to hear both sides.”

“What are they saying?”

“Well, Jake is in a coma, so he’s not saying much.”

“A coma? Oh God,” Liz said.
 

The reality slapped Liz in the face. The boy could die, and her son could be charged. A murderer, just like her husband.

Brady continued, “Ray says some words were exchanged, and your son just went ballistic. Says he even pulled a knife on them.”

“Bullshit!” Liz said, not giving a damn whether the chief was offended or not. This was her son, for Christ’s sake. She wasn’t gonna sit by while some punk ass kids maligned Alex. “Alex doesn’t even have a knife! And he would never, EVER, ‘go ballistic,’ Chief. They must have provoked him! Hell, maybe they were the ones who messed up my car yesterday!”

“What do you mean?” Brady asked.

“I was at the library yesterday and a Paladin guard came in to tell me that someone had spray painted the word ‘murderer’ on my windshield. I just had the window guy out this morning replacing the window.”

“Did you fill out a police report?” Brady asked.

“No,” Liz said, now feeling stupid for not documenting the event. “With everything going on, I didn’t want to call attention to it, or wind up on the news, again, or anything.”

Her eyes met Brady’s, as if conveying the unspoken part of that sentence . . .
you know, what with my husband having gone on a shooting spree.

“My family is being targeted!” she cried. “They must have attacked him. Alex would never hurt anyone unless he was fighting back. He’s a sweet boy, and he’s never been in trouble.”

“I’m not judging what did or didn’t happen, Mrs. Heller. That’s why I need to talk to Alex, so I can get his side of the story and start sorting the facts.”

Brady’s radio beeped. He gave Liz an apology with his eyes, then took the call, “Brady.”

“It’s Johnson. Katie’s mother hasn’t heard from her, either. Any luck on your end?”

“No,” Brady said. “Did she give you any other info?”

“No, sir.”

“OK, Head back to the girl’s house and see if they’re there,” Brady said. “10-4”
 

Brady looked up. “Katie’s mom hasn’t seen them, either. Do you have any idea where they might have gone? Is there any special place they liked to go to to get away from the world, maybe some romantic spot?”

“I have no idea,” she said.

“Has he been upset or anything, lately?”

Liz stared at Brady. “His father just shot his classmates, what do you think?”

Brady looked at Liz’s WELCOME mat. “Sorry,” he said, and then looked back up to her. “Of course he’s been upset. But do you think he’d run off? Or do you know anywhere he might go if he was afraid to come home? Any friends or relatives on the island? Or off the island, nearby?”

“Nobody’s talking to him, except Katie. His best friend blames him for what happened, and his other friend is in a coma, and I’m pretty sure nobody else is returning his calls. And no, we don’t have any other family.”

“OK, Mrs. Heller, I’m heading back to the station now. If Alex calls you or comes home, I need you to get him to come see me, or call me and I’ll get over here immediately.”

“Are you going to arrest him?”

“No, Mrs. Heller,” Brady shook his head. “I just want to talk to him, and I want to get out ahead of this before anything else happens.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what happened today, but I think it’s a safe bet that people on the island are angry, and I want to make sure nothing else happens to you or your family.”

“Do you think we’re in danger, Chief Brady?”

Brady turned his head toward the Paladin guard sitting in the parked SUV, then looked back at Liz. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing you have security outside.”

Brady reached into his shirt pocket, retrieved a couple of cards, then handed them to her.

“Here,” he said, putting the cards in her hand. “Call me the minute you hear from Alex or Katie. Or if anything else happens.”

Liz looked down at the cards, then back up into Brady’s kind eyes. She’d always liked the chief when he’d come into her class to talk with the kids about bullying and drug use and all the other stuff they barely paid attention to. He was always soft-spoken and kind, with a decent rapport with the kids that didn’t have him sounding like a horribly out-of-touch old fogey, like the former chief. In all the confusion and chaos, Brady broadcasted a calm, cool sense of security. Liz thought him kind, but more importantly, she found him easy to trust, and believed he had a chance to gain control of the most tense situation the island had ever seen

Liz opened her mouth, about to tell him everything — the list she found, the flash drive, and what she’d seen on the video.
 

Brady’s radio beeped to life again.

“Chief, I need you to get back to the station. Whistler just hung himself.”

“Jesus Christ!” Brady said. “Is he . . .?”

“Yeah,” the officer said. “He’s dead.”

Brady closed his eyes as if this was the absolute last thing he needed to hear right now.

“Larry Whistler? At the church?” Liz asked. “What’s he doing in jail?”

“You didn’t see the news?” The chief looked shocked. “About the missing girl? Emma Hughes? Daughter of Sarah?”

“Oh my God,” Liz said. “No! What happened?”

“Emma was staying with her grandmother and sister after Sarah died. Last night, she went missing. We arrested a suspect, Larry Whistler, and detained him, but still no word on where the girl is.”

“Oh God,” Liz said. Sarah had brought her daughter to work several times over the years, and Liz always loved talking with her. The girl was so sweet. To think she was missing, and that Roger might be indirectly responsible, felt like another bullet to her conscience.
 

“I need to get back,” Brady said, not even waiting for Liz to respond.

Liz went back inside, and picked up her phone, to call Alex, praying he’d answer.

**

8:16 p.m.

Liz wore out the carpet in front of the television, pacing back and forth, as the TV replayed the press conference from earlier, where Chief Brady discussed finding Emma Hughes. While Liz was relieved the girl was found safe, she wondered when in the hell Alex would come home.

She wanted to go out looking for him, but couldn’t leave Aubrey, who was upstairs sleeping, alone. Nor did she have anyone to babysit. She was a prisoner in her home, forced to wait for Alex or Katie to return one of her calls or finally come home. If she didn’t hear from him soon, she might have to wake Aubrey up and head out to look. But what hope would she have in finding her son, if the police couldn’t? And what if she ran into some of the angry island residents who wished her harm?

She had to protect her daughter at all costs.

Maybe, she decided, she’d ask the Paladin guard to drive them around. But the last thing she wanted to do was bring attention to the family and have Alex just be out sneaking around with his girlfriend. It would only make things worse, if that were even possible.

Katie’s mom, Terri, had called Liz two hours ago, asking if she’d heard from the kids. Terri had called Katie’s cell phone and left several messages, and she was worried sick. As they spoke, Liz couldn’t help but feel the layer of ice between them. While Terri hadn’t mentioned the shooting, it laced each sentence and lingered through every silence. Terri then said she was going so she could drive to a few spots where the kids had been known to hang out, and promised Liz she’d call back later.

As darkness draped itself over the island, Liz grew increasingly convinced that Alex was no longer on Hamilton Island.

He’d left. Either alive or dead.

She couldn’t explain it, but she’d always felt a connection to Alex. She could feel when he was in the house, even if she’d not left her bedroom. She oftentimes sensed when he was coming home, just moments before he opened the door, coming in all sweaty from a night playing with his friends. As long as he’d been alive, she felt this connection with him, like some kind of parental supernatural bond or something.

But now, she wasn’t feeling it. And it scared the hell out of her.

She tried to put the fear to rest and deal only in the things which she knew. Alex and Katie had gotten into a fight at school. They ran off into the woods after Alex hurt one of the kids. Beyond that, there was no reason for her to think them harmed.

He’s safe. They’re safe.

Oh yeah? Then why isn’t he home yet?

The poor kid must be worried sick that he killed Jake. He’s scared.

He doesn’t know what to do.

She tried to think what he might do, and was stunned to find that she had no idea. As close as she’d felt to him, she didn’t really know what he would do in a situation like this. This only served as a reminder of the distance growing between the family members during the past year or so. She didn’t
really
know Roger.